First Manhattan CO. LLC. lifted its holdings in Navigator Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NVGS - Free Report) by 27.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,430,009 shares of the shipping company's stock after buying an additional 311,259 shares during the quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. owned about 2.06% of Navigator worth $24,768,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NVGS. California State Teachers Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Navigator in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Navigator by 1,124.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,677 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,540 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Navigator by 2,794.4% in the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,055 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,984 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Navigator in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Navigator in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. 18.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research firms recently issued reports on NVGS. Weiss Ratings cut Navigator from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Navigator from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered Navigator from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 15th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Navigator from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.33.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Navigator
Insider Activity
In other news, insider Oeyvind Lindeman sold 6,259 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.70, for a total transaction of $135,820.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael Schroder sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.63, for a total value of $590,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 5,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $118,150. The trade was a 83.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Navigator Price Performance
Shares of NVGS stock opened at $21.96 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $21.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.47, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.44. Navigator Holdings Ltd. has a 12 month low of $13.90 and a 12 month high of $24.36.
Navigator (NYSE:NVGS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The shipping company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $140.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $139.35 million. Navigator had a return on equity of 7.01% and a net margin of 18.84%. Research analysts expect that Navigator Holdings Ltd. will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.
Navigator Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. Navigator's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.18%.
About Navigator
(
Free Report)
Navigator Holdings Ltd. is a global shipping company specializing in the seaborne transportation of liquefied gases. The company's fleet is purpose-built to carry a range of petrochemical gases, including liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), ethylene, propylene and ammonia. Navigator's vessels are designed to meet the stringent safety and environmental standards required for handling pressurized and refrigerated gases, offering flexible capacity to customers across the energy and chemical sectors.
Navigator operates one of the largest and most modern fleets of gas carriers in the industry, with vessels ranging from fully pressurized gas carriers to specialized very large ethane carriers (VLECs).
Further Reading
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